Board of Directors

Chair - Dr.Vivek Goel

Dr.Goel was appointed Vice President, Research and Innovation of the University of Toronto in December, 2014. Professor Goel is a distinguished scholar with an extensive background in teaching, research and university administration. He obtained his medical degree from McGill University and completed post-graduate medical training in Community Medicine at the University of Toronto. Dr. Goel obtained an M.Sc. in Community Health from U of T and an M.Sc. in Biostatistics from Harvard University’s School of Public Health. His research has focussed on health services evaluation. He was a founding scientist at the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), where he continues as an Adjunct Senior Scientist.

Member – Yasmin Meralli

Yasmin Meralli has over 20 years of experience in strategy and planning, spanning several industries including banking, electricity and gas, and retail pharmaceuticals. Ms. Meralli’s career has included executive roles in the banking sector. She brings with her a strong business acumen and results-oriented leadership approach. As the founder of Pluralism Performance Inc., Ms. Meralli has provided business planning and diversity and inclusion consulting services to a range of clients, from large banks to start-ups. Currently, Ms Meralli focuses on learning, development and training initiatives. Ms. Meralli holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Microbiology and a Master of Business Administration from the University of British Columbia. She is a Chartered Professional Accountant and has a Certified Internal Auditor designation. Ms. Meralli speaks English and Kutchi.
Ms. Meralli strongly believes in the ethic of volunteerism. While serving on the Aga Khan Social Welfare Board, Ms. Meralli initiated a national, cross Board/Portfolio External Partnerships program. She has previously volunteered at the CNIB and the UBC Psychiatric Unit. Ms. Meralli has also served as a Master Trainer at the Ismaili Centre Toronto, to provide curriculum development and training in pluralism.

Member – Felix Wu

Felix Wu has held several senior executive roles in the financial services sector. Mr. Wu has extensive experience in strategic planning, accounting and financial reporting, tax, financial oversight and controls, compliance, risk management, and funding. Currently, he is the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of President’s Choice Financial. Prior to this role, he was the Chief Financial Officer of Capital One Canada. Mr. Wu is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the Boys and Girls Club of Canada Foundation and a member of the Board of Directors of the Boys and Girls Club of Canada and President’s Choice Childrens’ Charity.
Mr. Wu holds a Master’s of Arts degree in Economics, a Bachelor of Commerce Honours degree and a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics from Queen’s University. He is a Certified Financial Analyst and a Certified Public Accountant (Delaware). Mr. Wu also speaks French and conversational Spanish.

Member – Christopher Hoffmann

Mr. Hoffman is a director of Brompton Corp. and various corporations associated with Brompton Corp. Prior to joining the Brompton Group in 2004, he was a partner at McCarthy Tétrault, a national Canadian law firm where his practice focused on corporate governance and capital markets transactions. From 1987 to 1989, Mr. Hoffmann served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of a private investment and holding company. From 1980 to 1987, Mr. Hoffmann was a partner at Burnet, Duckworth & Palmer, a Calgary-based law firm. Mr. Hoffmann has been a director of numerous not-for-profit corporations including Women’s College Hospital, Women’s College Hospital Foundation (chair and chair of finance committee) and Metropolitan Toronto and York Region Lung Association. Currently, he is a director of the Canadian Opera Foundation.
Mr. Hoffmann received a Bachelor of Laws and a Bachelor of Civil Law from McGill University, and a Master of Science from University of California, Berkeley. Mr. Hoffmann speaks English, French and German.

Member – Pamela Griffith-Jones

Ms. Griffith-Jones is the Chief Executive Officer of Nieuport Aviation Infrastructure Partners, a consortium of Canadian and international infrastructure investors which owns and operates the Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport passenger terminal. Prior to joining Nieuport Aviation, Pamela worked at the Greater Toronto Airports Authority where she was the Chief Commercial and Marketing Officer and then subsequently Vice President, Guest and Terminal Services, accountable for all commercial and operational aspects of Toronto Pearson’s terminals. Pamela’s other work experiences include 14 years at Canadian Tire in a series of senior strategy and P&L roles including Vice President of the Leisure Division.
Pamela was a member of the Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre Board of Directors from 2006-2015. Her involvement included serving as Chair of the Governance Committee as well as participating on numerous board committees such as Business and Human Resources, Quality of Care, Education and Research. Pamela holds both HBA and MBA degrees from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario.

Member- Jason Madden

Jason is co-managing partner of law firm Pape Salter Teillet LLP, which represents Indigenous peoples and their governments throughout Canada. His practice focuses on Indigenous rights litigation, advising clients on self-government related issues as well as the negotiation and implementation of modern day treaties. He is recognized as being at the forefront in the advancement of Métis rights law in Canada and was named as one of the 25 Most Influential Lawyers in Canada by Canadian Lawyer for his work. Jason regularly advises not-for-profit and community organizations on internal governance and employment related issues and regularly volunteers his time within the Indigenous community in Toronto. He is a graduate of Osgoode Hall Law School and is a regular teacher, speaker and presenter on Aboriginal law, including teaching at Lakehead University’s Law School and co-chairing the Osgoode Certificate in the Fundamentals of Aboriginal Law. In 2015, he was the recipient of Osgoode Hall Law School’s Dianne Martin Medal for his advancement of social justice through law. Jason is Métis and was born and raised in northern Ontario. He has made downtown Toronto his home for over a decade. He is a citizen of the Métis Nation of Ontario and a descendant of the Métis community in the Rainy Lake and River region of Ontario, who collectively adhered to Treaty 3 in 1875.

Member- Carolyn Acker

Carolyn Acker began her professional nursing career in the health sector, working her way up the ranks of executive leadership through a combination of world-class education, practical experience and, above all, a desire to give back. She has over 40 years experience in the health care sector. Her experience includes acute care, home care and primary care. She has worked at St. Michael’s Hospital in ICU & PACU; St. Elizabeth Health Care, delivering and managing nursing services through Home Care; and was executive director of the Regent Park Community Health Centre. She has served on the Boards of St. Michael’s Hospital, Surrey Place Centre, Health Force Ontario and many not for profit organizations. Carolyn was the founding CEO of Pathways to Education Canada, a public foundation dedicated to helping youth in low-income communities graduate from high school and successfully transition into post-secondary education. Acker used the experience she gained providing health services to disadvantaged people living in a troubled, despairing community to drive her entrepreneurial spirit. In 2001 the innovative Pathways to Education, (Pathways),was born out of her passion for helping young people to break the cycle of poverty, continue their education and find success in a career. In 2010, she received an Honourary Doctorate of Science from the University of New Brunswick, on July 1, 2012 she was awarded Membership in The Order of Canada and in 2014 she received an Honourary Doctorate of Science from Queen’s University.

Member- Karen Sadlier-Brown

Karen Sadlier-Brown is a former Assistant Deputy Minister with the Ontario Ministry of Finance and the Ontario Financing Authority (OFA).

During her career with the Ontario Government, she was responsible for numerous high profile projects, participated in the development of Provincial budgets, represented the Government on an international environmental and water management task force and led major sector transformations, including the financial restructuring of the former Ontario Hydro.

Ms. Sadlier-Brown brings a commitment to quality, innovation and patient centered health care. She served on the Board of Directors of the former Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre and on the Quality and Governance Committees. She also served on the Board of Directors of the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation, works with Syrian newcomers as part of a private sponsorship group, serves as president of her condo corporation and has volunteered with the St. John’s Ambulance pet therapy program.

Ms. Sadlier-Brown holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree from Memorial University in Newfoundland and a Masters of Public Administration from Queen’s University in Kingston.

Member- Myra Libenson

Myra Libenson has over 30 years’ finance and operations experience in performance measurement, business planning, budgeting, risk management and financial reporting. Currently an entrepreneur, Myra’s previous roles include Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operations officer at the CPP Investment Board. Prior to joining the CPP Investment Board, Myra held several executive roles at Great West Lifeco Inc. and Canada Life. Myra holds a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Toronto and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Vassar College. She has served on various volunteer boards including Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Toronto.

Member- Dunbar Russel

Mr. Russel is a corporate director currently serving on the boards of Fiduciary Trust of Canada (Chair – Conduct Review Committee), and the Canadian Blood Services. He also chairs the Finance and Audit Committee of Wycliffe College at the University of Toronto. Former Corporate directorships include; AccertaClaim Servicorp Inc (Chair), Toronto Dominion Life Insurance Company (Executive Chair), TD Reinsurance (Barbados) and Ontario Blue Cross (President & CEO).

Mr. Russel has more than 40 years of business experience, mainly in Canada’s financial services industry. He has worked as a senior executive at MONY Life Insurance Company of Canada, Ontario Blue Cross, TD Bank Financial Group and President’s Choice Financial, a subsidiary of Loblaw. He also served as the Chief Operating Officer at The Royal Conservatory of Music.

As a volunteer, Mr. Russel has served as a board member of a number of community organizations, including North York General Hospital (Chair), Wycliffe College, Big Brothers of Metropolitan Toronto (Chair) and the North Toronto Hockey Association. For a number of years, he was a big brother in the Big Brothers of Metropolitan Toronto’s Big Brother program.

Mr. Russel has a Bachelor of Science from McGill University, a Master in Business Administration from The Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and has attained the professional ICD.D and CFA designations from the Institute of Corporate Directors and the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts respectively.

Member- Natasha VandenHoven

Natasha VandenHoven is a partner in the Pensions & Benefits, Labour & Employment, Trusts & Estates, Corporate Governance and Taxation practices at the Davies law firm in Toronto. Prior to joining Davies, Natasha held the roles of Senior Vice President, Research, Human Resources and Corporate Counsel at one of the leading global human capital and management consulting firms. In these roles, she managed the national human resources function and national research department, and oversaw all Canadian legal matters.